title: Prognostic significance of soluble fas and soluble fas ligand in serum of patients with complete hydatidiform moles.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Despite of advances in diagnosis and staging, the prognosis of hydatidiform mole (HM) remains intricate. HM possesses the substantial risk of developing persistent trophoblastic disease (PTD), which is considerably high for complete hydatidiform moles (CHMs). Significance of serum soluble Fas (sFas) and soluble FasL (sFasL) has been observed in various malignancies; however, there is no report till date on HM.
  
  
  METHODS
  The serum levels of sFas and sFasL were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in 62 patients with CHMs and 64 healthy controls. The protein concentrations were also correlated with clinicopathological parameters, β-hCG level, and clinical outcome.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The serum sFas and sFasL levels in patients with CHM were significantly higher than those in control group (mean±SD: 703.497±491.759 versus 348.141±175.24; P<0.004 and 31.17±18.758 versus 18.802± 6.775; P<0.0001, respectively). Patients who progressed to PTD demonstrated higher sFas and sFasL concentrations than those who regressed spontaneously (794.211±415.892 versus 446.69±161.382; P<0.046 and 37.55±20.337 versus 22.763±6.52; P<0.011, respectively). Furthermore, significant associations were observed among sFas, sFasL, and β-hCG levels (P<0.0001 for all associations).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Production of sFas and sFasL may play a crucial role in progression of CHM and may serve both as prognostic tool and therapeutic target in improving the clinical outcome.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Dr VRK Women's Medical College & Research Centre, Hyderabad, India.
authors.forename: Simmi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Soni
authors.forename: Gayatri
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Rath
authors.forename: Ravi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Deval
authors.forename: Sudha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Salhan
authors.forename: Ashwini Kumar
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Mishra
authors.forename: Sunita
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Saxena
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D018997:Chorionic Gonadotropin, beta Subunit, Human / Q000097:blood; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D053222:Fas Ligand Protein / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D031901:Gestational Trophoblastic Disease; D006801:Humans; D006828:Hydatidiform Mole / Q000097:blood*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011379:Prognosis; D019014:fas Receptor / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D018997:Chorionic Gonadotropin, beta Subunit, Human; C505661:FASLG protein, human; D053222:Fas Ligand Protein; D019014:fas Receptor